The present invention relates to an electrical wiring box and, more particularly, to a plastic multi-section electrical wiring box assembled from a plurality of individual sections.
In each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,168,613 and 3,514,526, in the names of L. E. Palmer and W. O. Arnold, Jr., respectively, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application, there is described a plastic electrical wiring box primarily for use with plastic conduit and formed from a plurality (e.g., two or more) of interconnected sections. The sections may be similar or selected from a large number of different possible types and configurations for establishing an even larger number of possible overall configurations for the wiring boxes. By way of example, a wiring box may be custom-made from a standard central section interconnected with two end sections, each of which may be selected from several possible types and shapes for connection with a single conduit, a pair of conduits, or no conduits, as determined by the particular desired overall configuration and application for the final assembled wiring box. Wiring boxes formed in accordance with the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,168,613 include two similar sections with mating edges and surfaces which are joined together, either as part of a factory assembly operation or by a worker in the field, by using an adhesive or solvent welding material between the mating edges and surfaces. Wiring boxes formed in accordance with the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,514,526 include a central section and two end sections with mating edges and surfaces are discussed above, and further have shoulders formed integrally with the end sections for positioning within recesses of the central section. This latter positioning operation serves to prevent longitudinal outward movement of the end sections relative to the central section.
While wiring boxes as described hereinabove and in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,168,613 and 3,514,526 can be assembled in a simple and straightforward manner, the assembly operation nonetheless requires the use of jigs, clamping or other apparatus for holding and clamping the various sections together until the adhesive or solvent welding material has set sufficiently to permanently secure the various sections together. The requirement of the abovementioned apparatus, as well as the labor and time required to assemble wiring boxes from sections, has tended to discourage the assembly and use in the field by workers of wiring boxes formed from a number of individual sections as described hereinabove. Instead, such workers have looked to the manufacturer of the sections to supply the desired wiring boxes in an already assembled form or otherwise to supply the wiring boxes in the more traditional single-body form. Thus, the advantages of wiring boxes formed from sections, specifically, in reducing the inventory of wiring boxes or sections or in reducing tooling costs associated with the manufacture of a small number of standardized types of sections, have not been fully realized and available to workers in the field.